In addition to breast, colorectal and cervical cancer, in the near future cancer screening programs in Italy could also include lung and prostate cancer. This is the hypothesis that the Ministry of Health and scientific societies are working on and which could materialize soon. This was discussed during the round table “The EU Recommendation on cancer screening as a health priority”, promoted by All.Can Italia.
“The European recommendation tells us to implement strategies to increase compliance with existing screening which, in Italy, is objectively a problem. It also tells us to evaluate the possibility of applying screening to larger segments of the population and consider the feasibility of other screenings such as prostate screening: today, in fact, many people undergo the PSA test outside of organized courses”, says Rossana Berardi, treasurer of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) and director of the Oncology Clinic of the Aou delle Marche – Marche Polytechnic University.
An experimental screening program for lung cancer in heavy smokers (of the Italian Lung Screening Network) has been active for over a year and has so far had high participation and good results. The program will end at the end of the year. “At that point we will proceed with an evaluation to understand if it can be transformed into a real screening program”, says Daniela Galeone, director of the Health Promotion office of the Ministry of Health. At the same time, a project is in the pipeline that aims to develop a methodology for prostate cancer screening. Also in this case, the results on the real feasibility are expected in the coming months.
Screening at pre-Covid level, but insufficient participation
Oncology prevention continues to struggle in Italy. Even if participation in screening programs has returned to pre-pandemic levels, coverage levels are still not optimal: in 2022, 43% of eligible women underwent mammographic screening, while coverage levels of cervical screening and colorectal were 41% and 27%, respectively.
Furthermore, strong differences remain between North and South, with worse coverage in the South.
“We have made a great effort and managed to return to pre-pandemic levels. Now we need to intervene by trying to remedy the critical issues”, said Daniela Galeone, director of the Health Promotion office of the Ministry of Health.
Among the proposals to strengthen screening, the digitalisation and efficiency of screening invitation processes, the involvement of local medicine, up to the extension of the experimental program of the Italian Lung Screening Network to reduce mortality from lung cancer. “It is essential to make Italy a forerunner in Europe regarding prevention and early diagnosis policies”, said Paolo Bonaretti, spokesperson for All.Can Italia.
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